Search results for "animal crossing"
Oct 5, 2023
Lonesome Village is a relaxing puzzle-solving life sim where you play as the adorable Wes, a coyote. Wes is looking to solve the mystery of this empty village and the tower that popped up. You’ll enter that tower to complete a number of different puzzles in order to free the villagers trapped on each level. As you do that, the story of what happened will unfold, and it’ll be up to you to stop the evil that threatens it all.
The Pros
There is no doubt that Lonesome Village is uber adorable. The art is wildly cute, and each character you save is some variety of animal. Each has a great individual design. Even the main character, who’s a little coyote character dressed like Link. Even the overworld designs of each area you can explore are cute. Overall, this game is visually great.
The puzzle tower is a fun concept. You’re tasked with rescuing the villagers of the world, and to do that you need to complete a puzzle on each floor. Completing the puzzle releases villagers from the statues they’ve been encased in. Sometimes it’s just one character, sometimes it’s a whole family of characters. The puzzles aren’t super hard, which is perfect for having a relaxing game play experience. Some of them make you think harder than others, but none of them had me stumped for too long. I enjoyed the variety of puzzles, too. It wasn’t repetitive rehashing of the same ones over and over.
The day/night cycle doesn’t affect things like sleep, either. I found that to be a nice touch. It adds ambiance and life to the world, but doesn’t lock you into a specific way to play. There’s no running to bed to beat the inevitable 2am pass out, like some other life sims!
Coronya and Quests
I’m afraid that despite mostly liking Lonesome Village, my cons list is longer than the pros. True to early Legend of Zelda vibes, you’re equipped with a mirror item that allows you to talk to your fairy companion, Coronya. This is a great way to have a reminder of what you were doing as far as the story goes, as there is no quest log. However, she likes to pop up from time to time at the shrine levels of the tower. These levels require you to find the item the shrine requests and place it there in order to open the door to the next floor of the tower.
Coronya likes to pop up on these levels to talk to you about what the item is and how to get it. That’s cool, and often useful. However, she then returns to wherever she comes from, and must discuss EXACTLY what she just said, word-for-word, via the mirror. She’s also adamant about telling you that you must save everyone in the tower, so don’t forget to do that! It’s all so unnecessary. The point of the game is to release people from the tower. And I certainly don’t need an exact repeat of what was just said, right after it’s said. I would have preferred a quest log.
Which brings me to the fetch quests you get from villagers. Lonesome Village’s newly released inhabitants will have quests for you to complete. It’s how you’ll earn hearts to continue through the tower. Talk to a villager and they immediately launch into their quest, then it immediately opens your inventory so you can complete the quest, even if it’s your first time hearing about the quest. Just be sure to write down what it is you’re looking for if you go accept multiple quests. Again, there’s no quest log to keep up with what needs to be done. It made for a frustrating time when I’d pick the game back up and had to go around talking to people to figure out where I was in my fetch quest endeavors.
There is No Autosave and Storage is Lacking
I repeat, there is no auto save. Maybe I’m spoiled by modern games, but I expect autosave to be the standard in games these days. Having the ability to also save at will is great too, but autosave has saved me so much trouble over the years. Lonesome Village doesn’t even have the sleep to save mechanics like Stardew Valley. Instead, you have to visit one of the statues scattered across the map to save. I don’t have words for the frustration I felt when I thought I’d saved, but hadn’t and closed the game. I was set back several floors of the towers, and several villager quests.
Backpack size is woefully tiny. Access to the storage chest isn’t super convenient. There’s a chest in your house, your tent, and in the tower elevator. Sifting through storage is fiddly, at best. Everything shows up in a line that you have to scroll through to find what you need. The backpack is the same way when turning in quest items. Plus, there is one hotkey slot, so you have to go into your backpack, choose the item you want to hotkey, then use the item. It makes switching tools cumbersome and slow.
Final Thoughts
I’d still recommend this game overall. It’s cute and chill. There’s no rush to complete things, so you can play at your own pace. Plus, there’s no stamina drain or health to lose, adding another layer for a stress-free experience.
I’d rate Lonesome Village:
You can find Lonesome Village on Steam, Epic Games, GOG, Switch, and Xbox now!
- Jul 1, 2023
Puff Pals Island Skies is an Animal Crossing inspired village sim featuring adorable and sassy animals. Decorate your island, grow a garden and befriend the living vegetables you grow. Decorate your home and even explore other island biomes. Collect unlimited furniture and other items as you live your most cozy life.
Coming to PC this fall, Switch and Mobile shortly after. 🥰
- Feb 1, 2023
Dinkum let’s you play with friends in an Australian inspired outback island.
Dinkum, an RPG and simulation game developed by sole developer James Bendon much like how Stardew Valley started.
If you are not familiar with the game, at heart Dinkum is a life simulator with town building elements, farming, fishing and just so much more. The game is inspired by classics such as Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon.
In Dinkum you arrive with a group of explorers to a previously unexplored island. You will be be able to let your creativity roam free as you place and build a home for yourself as well as helping other villagers create the house of their dreams.
James has recently released a first good look at the game revealing the feature packed life simulation game. In addition the trailer gives you a glimpse at the exciting multiplayer part of the indie game, as you can watch two people on a mining spree together.
Play Dinkum Now
Dinkum is currently available on Steam. A console release is currently not planned but may still happen in the future!
Palia an open world fantasy life and Animal Crossing like
If you enjoy Animal Crossing you may also want to take a peak at Palia.
- Jan 27, 2023
Palia is aiming to capture hearts of Animal Crossing fans with its charm and beautiful open world.
Palia is an upcoming game inspired by gems such as Animal Crossing. The huge open world MMO takes place in a time where all humans have disappeared and it is up to you and your friends to rebuild a lost world as humans have just started to reappear again.
The developers describe the title as a “Cozy Life Simulation Game ” and while not too much information about Palia is available just yet, the first trailer revealed some interesting details about the MMO.
Much like in Animal Crossing you will be able to build and decorate your house from the ground up. You are also free to roam the large open world in hopes to find a piece of land that suits you the most. Find a quite plot by the lake or climb the mountains and place your house high up in the sky with stunning valley views.
In addition to placing, building and decorating your house you will also be able to grow a garden, plant and harvest crops as much as you desire.
Palia aims to capture the spirit of games like Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and even a little bit of the adventure from games like Fable and Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Palia offers the best out of life simulation games with expansive building tools for your own home and combines this with farming and adventure elements. Spend some time farming in the morning, embark on an adventure with your friends and close the day by doing some fishing in the nearby river – there is always something to do in the world of Palia.
Palia Release Date
Palia has no set release date yet, but a 2nd pre Alpha test went live a few months therefore nearing an open beta test soon!
The game will most likely launch on PC first with console releases likely to follow. I have reached out to the developer for clarification on this and will update this article accordingly.
More Animal Crossing Like Games
If you would like to play some more Animal Crossing like games, take a peak at this expansive list of similar cute, cozy and laid back games.
- Jan 26, 2023
Cozy Grove is an adorable survival and camp building game inspired by no other than Don’t Starve and Animal Crossing.
If you have ever played Don’t Starve you will most likely be very familiar with the concept of Cozy Grove. For the ones who haven’t – much like in Don’t Starve – a survival game as the title already gives away, In Cozy Grove you will find yourself on a haunted island and you will be tasked to bring color back to it.
The haunted island may appear empty and overtaken by florals but as you continue to explore and gather resources you will quickly begin to build up a new camp on the deserted and remote place and breath some life back into it.
The game features a huge hand-drawn world that becomes more colorful as you help the haunted spirits around. As you embark on your adventure you will meet dozens of different and interesting characters and spirits.
Everyone you meet will have his or her own backstory that you uncover over time.
While the game has plenty of storyline that you may indulge in, just like in Animal Crossing New Horizons you will be able to gather resources to craft all the items you desire. Build up your camp and create the coziest place you can possibly imagine.
In addition you can also fill your spare time by spending an afternoon fishing, gardening or other activities you find joy in. In Cozy Grove there is always something to do and only you decide which directions your very own haunted island will take.
Cozy Grove update
Cozy Grove is now available on Nintendo Switch and Steam and has received many updates since the launch of the game.
Games for Magic Lovers
If the haunted island in Cozy Grove got you in the mood for more spooky and magic focused games, take a look at this list filled with magic focused games.
- Jan 20, 2023
These Animal Crossing features shaped the series back in the days but are now lost memories.
Animal Crossing has been a long running franchise, in fact the first game was released back in 2001. Since then the series continued to thrive and has quickly become one of Nintendos biggest games with New Horizons selling twice as many copies as New Leaf within just a single year.
However, since the launch of the game many features that have shaped the games into something so unique and special have gone lost. Lets take a look at 10 of the most unique features that never made it into New Horizons.
Flower Fest
Animal Crossing Wild World was the only game featuring the Flower Fest. This event is a competition between you and the villagers on your island. The idea was to grow a beautiful garden around your home, Tortimer would host this event and eventually decides the winner. Taking the number one spot in this beautiful event will grand you a golden flower trophy.
Given the small size of the event it was surprising how engaging and fun it was to participate in this cute competition.
Crazy Redds Tent was Password Protected
Some love him, some don’t love him so much. Crazy Redd has been a part of the Animal Crossing franchise for some time. In New Horizons you may have met him on the north side of your island where he docks his sketchy boat.
In Wild World he would pitch a tent in your village ever now and then. To enter his tent and browse his selection of questionable pieces of art you would need a password.
The password was not always easy to obtain, sometimes you find a letter from him in the mailbox containing the password but other times you may have to talk to your villagers who in return could share the password to enter his tent.
Quests to get a Golden Axe
While the golden axe is still an item you can obtain, it was a lot more difficult than simply breaking a lot of flimsy axes to eventually get the DIY for the shiny version of it. In Wild World you actually had to embark on a quest to get your shiny axe.
The Trading event is where this quest could be initiated. Once you come across our beloved Turnip seller Joan you will have to buy a special red turnip from her which you would then give to Wendall who will in return give you a turban. As you are holding on to this item you are waiting to meet Saharah who will gladly take the Turban of your hands and give you a big cozy massage chair.
Handing the comfy chair to Tortimer will grant you a scallop, who likes scallops you ask? Pascal does – of course! Give him the scallop you just received and you shall get the golden axe.
This seems fairly straight forward but all these steps can be changed by the villagers who can provide different items making the quest a bit a different. This was a lengthy but fun process that pulled in many different characters.
The Bright Nights of February
In the beginning Nintendo wanted to avoid including real life holidays such as Christmas or Thanksgiving. Instead the big N added ” The Bright Nights of February ” something that looked a lot like Toy Day but instead was simply a day in winter where all villagers would decorate their homes with twinkle lights. The rewards for this even was “Winter” sending you a gift.
It was absolutely charming to see villagers decorate their homes with lights and other seasonal items. It made the village feel so festive and fun.
More Control over Villagers leaving
Whenever a villager is in boxes, it is pretty much set in stone that the villager will be leaving. However, in older games you could talk to the villager repeatedly and eventually convince them to change their mind to remain on the island ( or in the village ) even though they had already packed up their belongings.
In New Horizons the moving in and moving out process is a lot more focused on using Amiibo cards. As you may have noticed, it takes 3 days for a villager to move out, the exact time it would take you to invite a camper with the help of an Amiibo card to your island.
Lyle’s Insurance
There was a time when you were able to buy an insurance in Animal Crossing. Lyle, the cute little otter would make you an almost undeniable generous offer by providing you with an insurance in case of miss happenings.
The insurance plan only costs 3000 bells and would provide coverage for multiple occasions. It will provide you with 100 bells for 9 paintings that were not authentic, 100 bells for every 10 bee stings and other little things.
The total of of the return you can possibly make would only be 2900 bells making this insurance provided by Lyle a little bit of a scam. Regardless it was a fun feature to have and defiantly added more variety to the gameplay.
Dual Screen consoles and Gulliver UFO
In new Leaf and Wild World players would have the comfort of two separate screens and both games utilities this differently. In New Leaf the touchscreen was conveniently used for inventory management making organizing your many items a breeze.
In Wild World the dual screen was used to shoot down balloons and it was also the only way to spot Gulliver’s UFO – yes that was a thing!
Multiplayer mystery tours, souvenir shops and more
Mystery tours where somewhat of a new and old addition to Animal Crossing New Horizons. While they function in a similar way compared to previous game, in New Leaf there was a lot more to do.
In Animal Crossing New Leaf you would ask Kapp’n to give you a ride to a mystery island and as nice as he is, he would even let you bring along some friends. Bringing friends to mystery islands was a lot of fun and gave the multiplayer mode a lot more meaning.
Unlike in New Horizons you don’t have to shut down your gate and send your friends back home. Bring them along for some extra fun and resourcing. Everything is better together… Nintendo!
The island even featured a souvenir shop where you could obtain special souvenirs to bring home with you. These could only be obtained using a special currency found on the island.
In addition there were many multiplayer mini games you could enjoy with your friends, puzzles, hide and seek and so much more.
There were actually things to do in multiplayer back then!
Notes in Bottles
In New Horizons you find a daily DIY inside a bottle somewhere on your beach. DIYs and therefore crafting didn’t exist in this form in previous games so a daily bottles with a note could be found on the shore of your beach.
These notes were adorable and could sometimes be from a villager you met but more interestingly you can write notes, purchase a bottle, seal the bottle and throw it in the ocean. This does seem like you polluting the big blue but it will eventually show up at your real friends beach shore who will find your note in a bottle. This was an adorable way to exchange little messages between you and your friends.
Resettis Attitude
Resetti is not part of Animal Crossing New Horizons anymore, the grumpy character was part of many Animal Crossing games and was received, well – poorly.
His attitude was toned down in New Leaf a lot but back in the days he would be yelling at players for time traveling or shutting down their console without saving. The lecture he would give you coming back into the game can take a long time and guides you through a lengthy, grumpy dialogue.
The Resetti surveillance center was an underground faciltiy where Resetti would conduct his business of surveying your island. Players were able to enter it and talk to Resetti. This facility is no longer part of Animal Crossing.
However, his grumpy charm is undeniable and his absence has left a sad void in Animal Crossing fans hearts.
New Horizons is missing charm
Of course there are many other features that have come and gone since the series first launched, Brewster and his coffee shop is just another example.
I have played Animal Crossing New Horizons for more than 800 hours. The game is beyond adorable and so very polished and fun. But the lack of features that made the series so very adorable are noticeably missing.
As of now Animal Crossing New Horizons is a collection doll house game with terra forming. There are very few features that have made it into the game that are simply there for cuteness, like the insurance, message in a bottle or other little bits and pieces that together create a big whole.
Here is hoping that the content update Nintendo promised for this year will bring at least some of these beloved features back, or maybe even some complete new ideas?
- Dec 24, 2022
Weather effects have been the most advanced in Animal Crossing New Horizons compared to previous games, yet it never rains or snows.
Weather has always been one of the most important yet most underrated features in any Animal Crossing game. The changing climate gives the game the immersion it needs.
When rain drops are falling from the sky, it creates this special cozy atmosphere within the village that you can only find in Animal Crossing games. You see your beloved villagers stroll across the island in tiny cute rain boots holding a cute umbrella they may just picked up from Nook’s Cranny, you can even hear their splashy footsteps as they walk through the wet grass.
Weather affects are the reason it is so fun to play the game in real time along with real life seasons. The color of leaves are changing just like they do in real life and weather gets colder and warmer and portraying that feeling in the game makes it just so much more fun and cozy to play.
Nintendo put a big focus on weather in New Horizons
I have played Animal Crossing New Horizons since the day it launched, actually a day before it officially launched and have since then put in a borderline unhealthy amount of hours into the game.
When the Nintendo gave us a good look at the game during its E3 presentation in 2019, Aya Kyogoku the director on the New Horizons ( and previous AC games ) revealed that there was a big focus on the weather patterns in New Horizons.
I was so excited to hear this announcement, as prior to the reveal I was hoping that Nintendo would take the weather effects a step further.
Animal Crossing New Horizons Thunderstorms and Blizzards are beautiful
Wind would brush through the trees and flowers, making them look like they are dancing, different rain patterns with thunderstorms and dark clouds mixed in within the sunny setting of a tropical island. I was truly excited to hear about all these immersive features that would bring my town to live even more.
No weather on many islands…
Now that I have played Animal Crossing New Horizons for so long I have noticed that these promised weather effects do occur but very seldomly. Every day I boot up my game I have either a clear blue sky or a blue sky with some tiny clouds and looking through various communities it is actually very hard to find footage of snow fall, rain fall or any of the even more rare weather patterns like thunderstorms.
I have had the privilege of seeing a thunderstorm one time during the entirety of my New Horizons life span. Of course I have also been witnessing a couple rain showers but they were light and lasted only about an hour before the sun came out again. This defeats the purpose of having a rainy day. Why is Nook’s Cranny selling dozens of different umbrellas when really I never need them? Able Sisters are selling rain coats and boots but I never get a reason to put them on.
I spent Halloween and the entire month of October with a clear blue sky even though I was hoping to get some spooky weather, fog, rain, wind… I would have taken anything but all I got was picture perfect summer weather.
While I enjoy a sunny day I feel that Nintendo has done a poor job bringing variation into our islands using the weather as a means. I would like to see weekly rain, windy days and thunderstorms. It is obvious Nintendo put a lot of effort making the weather feel great and fun – why not give us a bigger taste of it?
It shouldn’t be a rare occasion to have water fall from the sky when living on a tropical island. Especially now that we are entering the winter season, I have yet to see a snow flake fall from the sky and I am afraid that white Christmas may not be a thing on my island this year.
Please Nintendo – give us some more weather variation.
- Nov 5, 2022
Animal Crossing New Horizons is one of the cutest games on the market, these gifts will delight every fan!
The holidays season is upon us and with shipping speeds slower than usual early gift shopping is part of this years festives once again. If you want to delight an Animal Crossing fan or simply treat yourself with something very unique this year, these items might just be the perfect match for the occasion.
All of these items are handmade and only available for a very limited time while stock last.
Animal Crossing inspired Tiny Village Pals – Clamshell Diorama
The Animal Crossing inspired Tiny Village Pals are an adorable small world that fits in the palm of your hand. It comes with a couple of trees, 4 villagers and cuteness sprinkled all over. This entire bundle comes packaged in an adorable fold open gift box that closes with a magnet.
For the ultimate experience you can have it packaged in an Isabelle themed Stocking or even a Bell Bag. Adorable!
Harv’s Zen Garden and Tiny Village Pals Bundle
For the extra treat, there is a Tiny Village Pals bundle that includes everything listed above but also packs Harv’s Chill Zone! A Tiny Zen Garden featuring Harv, a zen bridge, Harv’s Home, rocks, a cherry blossom tree, ultra fine white sand, a rake and so much more!
The Tiny Zen Garden Pals is a perfect addition for every desk, shelf or other space that needs a bit of calm, zen and Animal Crossing flair!
Animal Crossing inspired Ultimate Stuffed Stocking
This is anything an Animal Crossing fan could ever ask for. The Isabelle themed Stocking comes packed with tons of goodies. An Animal Crossing inspired mini gardening kit that includes a ceramic planter pot, a tiny – one of a kind – ceramic watering can, colorful seeds, soil, planting instruction and caring cards and more!
In addition the Ultimate Stuffed Stocking packs Harv’s Zen Garden and the Tiny Village Pals Clamshell Diorama.
And to top it of it also includes a Letter, Card and Sticker set so you can personalize the package with your own touch.
…And so much more!
There are plenty of more Animal Crossing inspired goodies to explore, take a look for yourself and browse everything right here!
Due to the high demand and slower than usual shipping times, processing times of all new orders may 1-3 days. The shop will close ahead of the holidays to be able to fulfill all orders in time. Please be sure to place your order early if you intend to get any of these items for this years holiday season.
